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I've never understood the obsession with how well the top X% was doing.
Frankly, I think its a distraction for political gain. It assumes that money/the economy is like a Pizza (finite) as opposed to an ocean. Can "they" behave irresponsibly to wreak havoc with the economy and royally screw everyone, a la the 2007 financial crisis? Yes, but assuming they're doing well solely at the expense of the masses is ridiculous. If you see your neighbor buy a new car and remodel his house, you don't assume he's stealing.
I am not affluent by any stretch but even my paltry balances have increased. I've also been able to support my day-to-day activities (not fixed bills - meals, gas, groceries, that sort of thing) for about three months just off trading and crypto profits I've taken.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I know several people that unfortunately were burned by the stocks for retirement strategy. Hopefully you do better. One lost so much in in 2000-2002 with the dot-com bubble burst then 9/11 that he had to sell off two of his stores and delay his retirement until 2010.
My liquid assets are almost entirely in stocks. Most of my income, and practically all income besides SS, when I retire will come from stock appreciation and stock dividends.
You're nuts. Have you already forgotten 2008?
Yes, retirement accounts should include equities. Right now, mine is nearly 100% equities, but I have a good twenty years to go to retirement. Long before I get there, I'll be rebalancing my portfolio to hold more bonds, bond funds, real estate, and other asset classes. By retirement time, roughly a third of your portfolio should be in equities, not all of it.
You cannot count on appreciation or dividends. It's nice when you get them, but there [i]WILL[i] come a time when the market will turn down again, potentially for years. If you don't plan for that, you're planning to fail. Might as well stock up on Alpo while it's cheap.
most elites (im guessing) earned their way to elite status through business ownership and the profits from that. then their wealth grows additionally from investment appreciation because they just have more money to appreciate.
Investing is not for "elites". It makes sense for everyone. My literate, peasant grandfather emigrated from Italy with minimal skills. Even he understood the value of having your money work for you. He scratched a living from the earth with a hoe but still managed to end up owning a lot of property and some commercial buildings. Maybe that is not quite the same as investing in stocks and bonds. He never understood those so stuck with what he could understand and see.
As an "elite", I'm genuinely puzzled. You talk of stock appreciation, and... Hoo boy, do I have bad news for you.
Someone of your class should be investing in bonds and index funds.
The stock market is high right now, but we have seen many times how that plays out.
I think you do not understand how we actually accumulate wealth, much less the preferential tax treatment impoverished Republican voters were so insistent I receive.
My 2017 wage income was substantial, I suppose, but I couldn't tell you exactly what it was. Wage income is peanuts. My actual wealth and income that matters is entirely from other sources.
this is something the Trumpsters don't get when they try to say how the middle class benefits from GOP policy too, that those who derive wealth from assets live a very different existence than those who do so through income.
By retirement time, roughly a third of your portfolio should be in equities, not all of it.
As with most one-size-fits-all answers, this one is often wrong.
There are far too many variables for each person's situation to declare a certain asset allocation of equities to be correct for everyone.
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